We live in an age where everything is undergoing a change. In organisations it is seen most of the time. It has become an inescapable fact of life. Organisational change refers to the alterations of relationships and roles of people in organizations.
Keith Davis has explained the change in organisations with the help of an experiment wherein he took an air filled balloon and pressed it with a finger (which represented change). The balloon represented an organisation and the air within represented the employees. Repeated pressure weakened the balloon which ultimately burst. However organisations are more complex than what was seen in the experiment and just as molecular equilibrium was sought to be established, organisations also seek equilibrium. By equilibrium it means that people learn to accept other people, learn to perform their jobs, and basically learn to expect various relationships. In other words when equilibrium exists it becomes easier for people to adjust and adapt.
Yet in today’s world change is something most dreaded by employees. They fear loss of jobs, they fear relocations and fear transfers. Technology is a major pressure of change. Competition for new products, and changes in quality are growing at a fast pace. Apart from these social and political changes are causing the equations in organizations also to change.
With change, resistance to change also comes. The effects of resistance are often overt and implicit. Implicit resistance may show its form in lack of motivation, resignations and absenteeism. Overt resistance assumes the form of strikes, decrease in productivity or shoddy work.
Resistance to change may also be in the form of individual resistance or organisational resistance. Individual resistance may be on account of economic reasons such as fear of reduced work hours and consequently lesser pay, fear of technological unemployment or fear of demotion and thus reduced wages. Many workers were afraid when automation set in and with the introduction of computers, those who could not work with computer packages or languages were forced to bid goodbye to organisations. The rate at which knowledge is exploding is incredible. As a result knowledge in any field is quickly becoming obsolete. Personal reasons may also contribute to resistance. For example if an individual feels that his status is being lowered by the change, or the change is ego-deflating, then he /she will resist the change. A sales manager giving advice to a marketing manager may not be accepted by the marketing manager because of his ego. However the sales manager being on the field is far more knowledgeable when it comes to customer experiences and market scenarios.
Further social displacement is another factor for individual resistance to change. As change brings about a disturbance in existing relationships, it can break up work groups. Situations are not rare where individuals are prepared to accept change at their individual level but refuse to accept it for the sake of the group.
Organisational resistance comes in the form of resistance on account of resource constraints. Lack of resources is the main reason for resistance. If there are plenty of resources then there will be no problem of introducing the change. Threat to power and influence also affect resistance. Whenever a change is unacceptable to a superior he will force his subordinates to resist it also, resulting in an organizational resistance to change.
There are a number of ways in which resistance to change can be overcome. Education and communication it is one of the good methods that could be implemented. There may be a lot of people who simply oppose the change on account of not knowing the reasons behind the change. For example a group of employees at an organisation resisted the change in work timings in their factory. The reason was the output had to be increased to meet a deadline and an additional half hour had to be put in. After explaining the situation and also being told that they would get overtime pay, they agreed to working late. Education or making one aware of the situation is vital for smooth running of an organization.
If the workers are part of the change it is all the much better. Participation also withers away misunderstandings that dwell in the minds of the subordinates about the change and its consequences. The main advantage of participation is that the workers will be committed to implementing the change. Listening to the viewpoint of the aggrieved individual, providing emotional support or providing training in new skills can go a long way in bringing harmony in an organization.
At an extreme one can give incentives to the resistor, and avoid major resistance through negotiation. But this can be costly if others too perceive a chance of bargaining and demand similar incentives for them too.
